THE MIDNIGHT fire flickers, | |
| The embers slowly dying; | |
| The father sits at the table, | |
| Heavily, sadly thinking. | |
| The mother, too, sits quiet, | 5 |
| Sending swift prayers to Heaven. | |
| Her heart is filled with grief, | |
| But she knows not words to tell it. | |
| The sisters finish their sewing | |
| By the light of the kahanetz. | 10 |
| |
| The brother has sought a corner | |
| To pipe sad tunes on a flute. | |
| He plays on the flute of Ivan, | |
| Ivan who serves the Czar. | |
| Suddenly, with a heart-cry, | 15 |
| He stops his sad, sweet playing: | |
| ‘Ivan, Ivan, it sounds not! | |
| Thy famous tunes are silent! | |
| Where, O where art thou living | |
| And how does my brother fare?’ | 20 |
| |
| Brushing away his tears, | |
| He placed his flute near the rafters; | |
| Quietly leaving the room | |
| He went to sleep in the stable; | |
| That he might talk with the bay | 25 |
| Concerning Ivan, his brother. | |
| |
| And on the hot sands of Italy, | |
| On the green grass lies a soldier, | |
| Shot, awaiting death, alone, alone, | |
| As a leaf in desert sands! | 30 |
| Only the moon is shining— | |
| Above him the proud juniper | |
| Her buds flings outward. | |
| |
| And he lies thinking, thinking— | |
| Dreaming of his home, | 35 |
| Bidding good-bye to father, | |
| To mother, brother, and sisters. | |
| ‘Adieu, adieu, Kateryna, | |
| With thine undying love, | |
| With thy so sweet affection! | 40 |
| Adieu, my golden weapons, | |
| Adieu, my bay in the stable, | |
| That carried me to dances, | |
| That knew my heart’s deep secrets!’ | |
| |
| Then, low and faint in the distance, | 45 |
| There reached his ears, uncertain, | |
| The sounds of sweet flute-piping. | |
| They drifted into silence…. | |
| The soldier’s head has fallen, | |
| The stars have faded away. | 50 |
| |
| On Sunday in the village | |
| Gather Ivan’s companions: | |
| ‘Brothers, come let us play it, | |
| The famous flute of Ivan’s!’ | |
| How vain were all their efforts! | 55 |
| ’Twas dumb, as dumb as ever. | |
| |
| And on the hot sands of Italy, | |
| Under the boughs of the juniper tree, | |
| What does he dream, Ivan? | |
| Does he dream of the bay, | 60 |
| Or of Kateryna? | |
| |
